Needham / Hill Street / Sheffield

That knife looks good to me. Ive seen pins peened like that before on workhorse knives. It wasn't suppose to be a thing of beauty, it was made to work. The pulls are indeed forged. The tool had that curve in the top of it to follow the curve in your thumbnail. I've seen that many times. Good knife Vince.
 
Markesharp said:
From experience. I have re-built many folding knives and though I am not a full time knife maker, I have hafted and peened many pins. I could be wrong and I mean no offense nor do I pretend to know it all. :)

I would like someone like Tony Bose to give an opinion.

Regards Mark
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From Tony Bose:

That knife looks good to me. Ive seen pins peened like that before on workhorse knives. It wasn't suppose to be a thing of beauty, it was made to work. The pulls are indeed forged. The tool had that curve in the top of it to follow the curve in your thumbnail. I've seen that many times. Good knife Vince.
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Pretty much what Pipeman expressed. I have a few knives from Sheffield peened just like the knife in question.
 
Interesting Vince. The handle is similar to the British WWII knives. They had synthetic scales made of Bexoid which was quite prone to shrinkage. I agree with ptradeco... William Needham had a Hill Street address. The knife likely dates to around 1950ish. I don't think that pattern was a military issue. Your knife and this one both have the nail nick on the back side of the master blade.

WWII-31024_zps92cf8700.jpg
 
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Tony Bose said:
That knife looks good to me. Ive seen pins peened like that before on workhorse knives. It wasn't suppose to be a thing of beauty, it was made to work. The pulls are indeed forged. The tool had that curve in the top of it to follow the curve in your thumbnail. I've seen that many times. Good knife Vince.
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I thought so,Thanks Tony

smiling-knife said:
Interesting Vince. The handle is similar to the British WWII knives. They had synthetic scales made of Bexoid which was quite prone to shrinkage. I agree with ptradeco... William Needham had a Hill Street address. The knife likely dates to around 1950ish. I don't think that pattern was a military issue. Your knife and this one both have the nail nick on the back side of the master blade.

WWII-31024_zps92cf8700.jpg
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I was hoping someone would show one of these,my knife is some type of cousin/variant Thanks S-K
 
Tony Bose said:
That knife looks good to me. Ive seen pins peened like that before on workhorse knives. It wasn't suppose to be a thing of beauty, it was made to work. The pulls are indeed forged. The tool had that curve in the top of it to follow the curve in your thumbnail. I've seen that many times. Good knife Vince.
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Thanks Tony. :thumbup:
 
This is a more common example of a non-military issue knife from the same period, but with some similar characteristics. This one's made by Herbert Robinson - no 'England' on the tang stamp either.

 
quattromori said:
+1! I had never seen a single blade variant (and the tool/sheepsfoot version posted by S-K was the one I referred to in my earlier posts) :)

Fausto
:cool:
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Thanks Fausto, it had quite a bite out of the edge when I got it. I've not seen one like Vince's Jack before, great-looking work knife :thumbup:
 
Very informative post sir, thanks for that :)
 
VCM3 said:
Yes, Thank You & Thanks too Jack Black for showing your version
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My pleasure sir :) I have quite a lot of different examples of the British military patterns, including several with a Sheepsfoot blade and spike, but only the one like that. I see H M Slater, on their antiquated website, still offer what looks like a single Spear (on the right of the pic below). I might have to investigate! ;) :thumbup:

pocket-and-sheath-knives-500x500.jpg
 
I hope that you don’t mind me resurrecting this thread Vince, but as, thanks to Duncan and your good self, I am now the very proud owner of this fine knife, it seemed like an appropriate place to post about it :)

I was somewhat entranced by this pattern, and by its history, as I’d never seen one before. My dad did British National (military) Service in Germany in the 50’s, but they got issued next to nothing in terms of kit, and were paid so little they could only afford to drink in the NAAFI (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy,_Army_and_Air_Force_Institutes), not off the base. He saw almost nothing of Germany, and at the end of his service, even had to replace the two uniform shirts and trousers he’d been issued two years earlier, as they were worn. He had no clasp knife, and if these knives were on sale in the NAAFI then, I doubt he had the money to buy one. Off hand, I don’t even know if he carried a knife during his military service or not.

For my grandfather, during his military service, it was quite different, as it was during WW2. He always carried a knife anyway, and he gave me the clasp knives he carried when I was a kid.

Some may find it odd that I’m attracted to this sort of knife, there’s nothing fancy about them at all, and they’re often worn and dirty. I don’t know if it’s out of a sense of nostalgia, or because of their rugged dependability, but I like them a lot.

The NAAFI pattern is not a military issue knife, but you can see the similarity to the British Army Clasp Knife, as posted by Smiling Knife. I have a single-blade Sheepsfoot which is similar too, and I like that knife a lot, but I was knocked out by the pictures of the NAAFI knife in this thread. I really hoped I’d come across one someday.

Then, not much more than a week ago, during one of our regular PM exchanges, Duncan left me a slightly cryptic message with a link to a thread in the Exchange. Not only had Vince decided to pass on the NAAFI knife, but Duncan had snagged it for me as a gift! :)

Vince kindly agreed to mail the knife to me in England, and in good time, his package arrived yesterday. Of course, I had known what the knife looked like from Vince’s pics, but when I saw it in my hand, my heart skipped a beat. It was like that feeling you get when you suddenly realise that a very pretty girl, who you’ve liked for a while, has suddenly taken an interest in you. Not that that’s happened to me for a while, but my memory hasn’t gone completely! :D

I really like this knife, in hand it feels like you could skin a Chieftain tank with it! I think we’ll be having a few adventures together, maybe not skinning tanks, but you know...adventures! ;)

Thanks again Duncan, you’re a real pal, and thanks to you too Vince, I’ll look after this old soldier :thumbup:

Here’s some pics :)

















 
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Very nice Jack and Duncan and Vince - I like the look ! :thumbup::)

Jack it looks like you whacked yourself - a while back mate ! :D
 
Primble said:
Very nice Jack and Duncan and Vince - I like the look ! :thumbup::)

Jack it looks like you whacked yourself - a while back mate ! :D
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Thanks Primble :) I do have one or two scars! :D
 
Jack I'm glad that knife wound up in your possession,Thanks to Duncan. Enjoy it :thumbup:
 
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